Improvement in shingle-machines



. when) J/weti.

A. W H IT E.

Improvement -in" Shingle Machines.

Patnted Feb. 27,1872..

ALEXANDER WHITE, OF FOND DU LAC, \VISGONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHlNGLE-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0.'124,1Ul, dated February27, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ALEXANDER WHITE, of Fond du Lac, in the county ofFond du Lac and State of WVisconsin, have invented certain Improvementsin Shingle-ll/Iachines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to that class of shin glemachines in which theblock to be cut is fed to a circular saw by means of an automaticsliding carriage; and it consists in a novel man ner of operating thecarriage; in so arranging the carriage that it may be readily removedfrom the machine; in a peculiar manner of applying wooden strips to themetal clampingdogs so as to hold the block when very thin; in applyingto the carriage a wooden bar to run under the saw and hold the blockwhen too thin to be held by the dogs, whereby the machine is enabled tocut up the entire block without the usual waste; and, lastly, in a guideto prevent the saw from springing.

Figure l is a top-plan view of my machine. Fig. 2 is a section on theline 00 00. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 y. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal vertical section of the machine on the line 2 z of Fig. l;and Fig. 5 is a side view of the slotted bar or yoke of the carriage.

In the drawing, A represents the frame of the machine; B, the horizontalsaw, mounted in one end of the frame; and O, the sliding carriage,having its ends mounted in the grooved top rails of the frame. Thecarriage is provided, at its outer end, with a vertical slotted bar oryoke, D, and across the frame there is mounted a horizontal sh aft, E,having on one end a crank, F, provided with a roller, (1', which playsin the slotted bar D, so as to move the carriage back and forth when theshaft is turned. The shaft E is provided, on the opposite end, with acrown-wheel, G, which is mounted eccentrically thereon and operated by along pinion, H, attached to the end of an inclined shaft, I, mounted 011the side of the main frame. lVhen the pinion is acting on the inner edgeof the wheel or edge nearest the shaft, it, of course, turns the samefaster than when acting on its outer edge, the wheel being given afaster speed during one-half of its revolution than during theremainder. The

wheel is so arranged on its shaft E that it receives its rapid motionwhile the carriage is moving back from the saw, and its slow motionwhile the carriage is moving forward; by which arrangement the carriageis moved slowly and gradually up to the saw, and moved back quickly andwithout loss of time. To facilitate the removal of the carriage from themachine, the inner lower side of the slotted bar D is cut away, as shownin Figs. 4 and 5, so that, upon turning the crank down until its rolleris opposite the open or cut-away side of the bar, the carriage may bedrawn back free from the crank, and then, after removing the end rail ofthe frame, slid out of the machine. As the open side of the bar is notacted upon by the crank, the cutting away of the same does not interferewith the operation of the carriage. The carriage is provided at one endwith a stationary dog or j aw, J, and at the opposite end with a movabledog, K, for the purpose of holding the block when being presented to thesaw. The movable dog may be arranged and operated in the manner shown,or in any of the other usual methods, as such arrangements are used inall machines of this class, and constitute no part of my invention. Eachdog or clamp has a long vertical slot or opening made through it, and awooden strip or block, L, driven down through it and cut off flush withthe top of the saw, so that, when the block being sawed becomes so thinas to pass under the dog, it will bear against and be held by thesewooden strips. The wood is, of course, arranged with its grainvertically, so that its lower edge will not be split or broken off bythe pressure of the block, and it is made to fit so tightly that it willremain in place without being otherwise fastened. When the wood becomesworn off at the lower end, the carriage is drawn back and the wooddriven down, and then the carriage moved forward so as to have the sawcut the wood off flush with its upper surface. When the wooden block orstrip is used up, or nearly so, another piece is driven into the dog soas to push out the old one and take its place. I am aware that it is acommon practice to secure wooden strips to the dogs by means of bolts;but as much time and trouble is required to adjust the strips when soapplied, and as they have to be adjusted and renewed quite frequently,such arrangement is very objectionable. By my arrangement the wood isheld firmly in place, but at the same time may be adjusted or renewed inan instant.

For the purpose of holding the block when it is cut down so thin thatthe dogs or their wooden strips will not grasp it firmly, a wooden bar,P, is attached at one end to the under side of the carriage, immediatelyunder the stationary dog J, so that when the carriage runs forward thebar passes under the saw, close thereto. The bar slides on and issupported by a rail, It, attached to the main frame, as shown in Figs.1, 3, and 4. The end of the block being cut bears against the stationarydog, and also against the bar P, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it issupported both above and below the saw. When the block becomes so thinthat it will only produce one perfect sh ingle, the tilting table S,which is arranged in the usual manner, has its end nearest thestationary dog J depressed, so that, when the carriage moves forward,the lower side of the block, which is being taken off to form theshingle, and which, of course, passes under the saw, bears against andis held by the bar I, as shown in Fig. 3. In this way the block is heldfirmly when so thin that the dogs cannot grasp it. In the ordinarymachines the block depends entirely upon the dogs for its support, sothat when quite thin it will be forced through under the dogs and thrownout of the machine by the saw 5 for which reason such machines cannotsaw up the entire block, but require it to be removed and thrown awaywhile still thick enough to form two or three shingles; but by myimprovements the machine is enabled to cut up the entire block and avoidthe usual waste.

To prevent the saw from springing up or down, its edge is caused to runbetween the two arms of a forked guide, T, which is mounted at the sideof the frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Each arm of the guide isprovided with a screw, k, which may be set up close to or againstthesaw, so as to guide the same' perfectly true. The guide is supported bya stem, 0, at its back end, which passes down through a block, 1), andhas a nut applied to its lower end, by which it may be tightened up soas to hold the guide in position. The

guide may be turned to one side after loosening the nut, or, if a chipor splinter adhering to the saw strikes the guide, the latter will" turnout of the way so as to prevent injury to the saw. The block 1), inwhich the stem of the guide is mounted, is secured by bolts to the sideof the rigid bar R, which is slotted, so as to permit the guide to beadjusted forward and back. Several of the guides may be placed atdifferent points around the saw, if desired.

By the use of the guide the saw is prevented from springing, and causedto run evenly and true, so that there is no danger of its strikin g theframe or other parts and breaking the teeth, and so that it will producea smooth flat shingle. Another advantage of using the guides is, that athinner saw may then be used, and thus the timber cut with less wastethan usual. Still another advantage is, that, as the saw is caused torun perfectly true, the metal clamping-dogs may be brought down closerto it without danger, so as to hold the block more firmly.

It will thus be seen that by my improvements the carriage is given aslow forward and quick backward movement, the carriage relt dered easyof removal, the dogs provided with readily-adjustable wooden strips, themachine enabled to cut up the entire block, and the saw kept perfectlytrue.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The arrangementof the eccentric wheel G and crank F with the slotted arm I), attachedto the carriage, substantially as described, whereby the carriage has aquicker backward than forward movement, as set forth.

2. The wooden strips L, inserted in a slot in the clamps or dogs,substantially as described, whereby they afford a bearing for the blockbelow the teeth of the dog, and can be readily adjusted, as hereinspecified.

3. The wooden bar P, attached to the carriage, in combination with thesupporting-rail R, constructed and arranged to operate substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

4. The swinging guide T, arranged in relation to the saw, substantiallyas shown and described, whereby the guide will be swung clear of the sawwhen slivers or similar obstructions are forced against it by the saw,as set forth.

5. The slotted arm D, having a portion cut away at one side, whenarranged in relation to the crank, as described, whereby it can bereadily disconnected from the crank, and at the same time there is nodanger of its being disconnected while in operation.

ALEXANDER VHITE.

Witnesses:

N. O. GRIFFIN, H. T. RosE.

